City of Duluth, Georgia

Duluth Receives CREATE Community Award from the Atlanta Regional Commission

The Atlanta Regional Commission recognized five local governments on February 17th for their efforts to achieve key regional goals and make the Atlanta region a better place. The CREATE Community Awards are given annually to commend and share outstanding programs by local governments in the Atlanta region. One of the reasons the Atlanta region is a great place to live is because of all the people who work daily in each of our communities, to make life better for all residents. So many outstanding and innovative things are going on in our local governments, these awards can only scratch the surface.

Local government initiatives were awarded in the areas of Community Building and Involvement, Regional Prosperity & Economic Development, Environmental Sustainability, Application & Innovation in Technology, Educational Excellence. Duluth was awarded the CREATE Community Award in the Community Building and Involvement category for its Citizens Budget Committee.

Facing a budget shortfall and the possibility of the first tax increase in many years, City officials decided to involve Duluth citizens in the budget process. It was felt that citizen confidence would only be achieved if there was full disclosure of every penny in the City’s current budget and proposed next budget. In the end the Citizens Budget Committee made recommendations for increased fees in several areas and charging fees for services that had previously been free. With these recommendations, budget cuts by departments and using a small amount of reserve funds, the FY10 budget was balanced with no tax increase. Duluth will again engage a Citizens Budget Committee to make recommendations on the FY11 budget.